Fathersday and fishing

well sunday was fathers day and we had a pretty successful trip on saturday. as i sat looking back on it i couldn't help but look at it from a fatherly point of view. there isn't anything more natural than sharing the outdoors with your child, its like christmas morning every time you go out. dosent matter if its hiking,fishing,surfing. for some maybe hunting or biking. whatever it maybe the outdoors just naturally lead themselves to memorable circumstances for children and parents. and especially the father son/daughter fishing experience. the excitement of preparing the night before. the anticipation of the early wake up call to get out with first light. its a magical time. hell there are  a lot of negatives involved too, but its usually negated by the positive 10 fold! its like dealing with malls and stress during the holidays, it all goes away christmas eve when the magic in their eyes can be seen. the long hours preparing tackle and boats, the impatient kids, the tangled/lost lures. all worth those moments of magic when they get that fish on the line. that picture locked in time,just like the first sight of presents on christmas morning. the key to having a great trip is remembering its not about the fishing always, but its about the experience.feeding a few ducks, in our case geese, can be another positive experience adding to the "fishing trip". driving the boat,helping launch and retrieve the boat, exploring nature. I've even got my son excited about picking up lake trash by making it a game.all this makes it a positive reinforcing experience. the fishing can be great but in a childs eyes  and with their attention span you really need to fill out the day for them. I'm very lucky to get half day to myself when he's tired i get lunch and a hand off with the wife. he gets a good morning session and i get a few hours to decompress by myself. its something that works for all, after all the wife gets to sleep in and be child free for several hours as well. the best part is that some day these positive memories  i hope he's getting will be passed on to his children one day, perhaps if I'm lucky i may even get to share some with them.and the magic will make him and his better for all that is learned and experienced on each "fishing trip"